Layla started making accessories in her spare time for family and friends — today she runs a workshop employing 6 women, and sells across Iraq via GINI.
In a small room in her Baghdad home, Layla sat one evening arranging beads. She was making a necklace for a friend. She never imagined that necklace would be the start of a full story.
"I was arranging the necklace thinking only about my friend. When she saw it, she said: this is art, why don't you sell? I hesitated — who would buy from a woman without a shop?"
"My daughter opened me an account on GINI and uploaded 15 pieces. The first week, nothing. Then on the eighth day, one order from Kirkuk. I cried."
Two years on:
"Nobody told me I was capable. GINI just gave me a place to try, and the rest was up to me. I want every Iraqi woman at home to know she has a choice — her skills have value, and there are people willing to pay for them."
